[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: [BULK] concrete vs block vs ___foundation wall

[Bruce Donelson]

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 I was rather fascinated,
because the proponents were saying that the walls go up faster, have
more shear strength, and are easier for the DIYer to accomplish than a
conventional mortar joint.



A dry stacked wall might be a tad stronger than a wall with mortar joints.
You can kick either of them over. All the strength in a block wall comes
from vertical and horizontal rebar surrounded by concrete.
Not every cinderblock is made to exact tolerances. A dry-stack wall offers
no ability to straighten out a wall as you go, which is fairly easy if you
tap a block down into a mortar bed. If any block in one of my foundations is
out of level by more than 1/8 inch, we will shim the plates to be sure the
foundation is level. It would be hard to adhere to that degree of accuracy
with a dry-stacked system.

IMHO the best use of that technique would be for block walls that don't
require accuracy, particularly if they would be stuccoed. They would still
require grout for strength, unless they were only say 3' high and not likely
to injure anyone if they fell over.

Bruce